I Will Love You Better
by MelMel1234
Summary: Jackson and April realise that there's a lot they don't know about each other. Travelling back to her hometown and meeting people from her past, gets Jackson questioning if he has been loving her right all along? Based in season 10 :) Everwood x Greys Anatomy Crossover AU


**YAY A NEW MC I SHOULD NOT BE STARTING. This one will end in 3 chapters so don't worry! It's an Everwood x Greys Anatomy crossover AU thing. I love Sarah Drew's character Hannah in this show, and her relationship with Chris Pratt's character, Bright. This is an insanely well written show! WATCH IT!**

 **Disclaimer: These characters belong to Shonda**

 **P.S: this is definitely a japril fic, Bright is not going to be romantic interest I promise!**

 **the title of each chapter is a favourite episode from season 4 of ever wood :)**

* * *

 **Getting to know you**

"April, you're mad at me."

Jackson finally spoke up, tired of the silent treatment his wife had been subjecting him to since they'd left Boston. She hadn't said a word to him throughout their almost 2 hour flight from Boston to Ohio and was continuing her lack of communication during their car ride.

"How'd you tell?"

She finally says, breaking the silence and although her voice is dripping sarcasm, he's at least a little happy she's finally speaking to him.

"April, come on, babe. This is ridiculous." He says, taking a sneak at her face to see her rolling her eyes and opting to go back to being non responsive on him.

He sighed, focusing his attention back on the road. He wasn't sure why they had even begun to fight but he knew exactly when it happened. Marrying an Avery, especially under the circumstances they got married, meant going to Boston so that his grandfather can meet April, not because he wanted to meet and make nice with his grandson's new wife or anything but because a new addition to the family, meant contracts and negotiations and Avery foundation, legacy and wealth discussions. None of which he wanted to subject April to. He had delayed this meeting as much as he could, keeping the need to go to Boston from April, until she had suggested that she wanted to go to Boston, meet Harper and even if unwillingly on his part, involve him in Jackson's life. So he had come clean and told her that a trip to Boston included a lot more than Harper refusing to acknowledge her position in the family. It meant she'd be introduced to the Avery life, their way of living and the foundation, all he knew was overwhelming for April. And she'd gone with it, head held high and he'd had to sit next to her for 5 days and witness her being battered and underestimated and made to feel small constantly by Harper, the foundation and the expectations that were now on her.

He pulled up in front of the hospital, parking the car in an empty place nearest to the entrance. He turned off the engine, and took off his seatbelt, and turned around to face his wife who was making no subtle move of trying to get out of the car as quickly as possible. He sighed, leaning across her and closing the car door on her side, she had begun to open. He locked the door, and cut her off before she could protest.

"Look, you're mad at me, I get it. I know some of that is my fault." He said, while she scoffed at his statement. He ignored her and went on, "But, we're here to operate on a patient. This surgery is getting published, it's going to be recorded. We're going to do a lot of good for a lot of people."

"You mean the Harper Avery Foundation and its shareholders?" She didn't do much to hide the sarcasm.

"I mean the patients who are going through this same problem with no solution." He was surprised that she was reacting to this so strongly.

"Jackson, if your grandfather and the foundation really cared about the patients who are going through this, they wouldn't have redirected budgetary allowances from donations to free healthcare clinics so that this surgery could be publicized. This whole surgery will help a lot of people, no doubt about that, but you can achieve that without having to spend millions of dollars doing that." She was furrowing her eyebrows and her face was slowly rising in colour, the way it always did when she was furious about something.

"Well, that's the way we do things, babe. I don't like taking money out of free clinics either, but with the Foundation, everything is … bigger, bolder. If the surgery doesn't get a theatrical release, then it won't get published at all." He threw in a joke, hoping to get a laugh out of her, but all he received was a death glare.

"You see nothing wrong with that?" She asks, crossing her arms in front of her.

"Of course I do. But I want this surgery to save more lives, and this is the only way it's going to happen." Jackson replied, "April, you don't understand, it's-"

"Oh trust me, I know," She laughed humourlessly, "There are a lot of Avery things I don't understand. Like, how my husband never told me that our children will come home from boarding school every holiday to be whisked to Boston to sit in at board meetings for a foundation that controls over 450 million dollars where they'll be forced to leave any all personal beliefs that they will be raised not to have at the door."

She was practically yelling at this point. He wasn't sure what to do. For one thing, she had sat in at her first board meeting and hated it. He knew it had nothing to do with the fact that she was bored or lost or anything of that nature. Quite the contrary, actually. April surprised everyone, including him, with how prepared she was for the meeting. She was one of the smartest people he knew, so she'd read up on everything they had discussed that day and contributed significantly to the discussion. She had been attentive, intelligent and efficient. Unlike, the rest of the people in the room, Jackson loved hearing his wife talk and had actually paid attention. He wasn't used to doing that considering how in all meetings before this one, he had spent them, for the most part, discreetly checking football scores, on his phone. But the moment, she'd walked out she'd been distant and angry, and he'd known something about that meeting had irked her. Well, he knew what it was now.

"April, come on, don't make it sound like we had years to talk about these stuff." It was his turn to be frustrated now. It had only been 3 months since they'd gotten married after a 13 hour engagement and a month or so of doing whatever the hell they had been doing back then. It's not like they had the privilege to have the conversations that normal couples have before they decide to tie the knot.

"Three months, is a really long time Jackson. It's 12 weeks … almost 100 days where you decided not to tell me these things." She yelled, taking a little time to do the math in her head.

"I thought it was too soon, babe. I didn't want to overwhelm you" He had just wanted to extend their happy little marriage bubble for as long as possible. Apparently, all it took was one visit to Boston for it to pop.

"Great decisions, Jackson, because the better idea is to throw me into the deep end all of a sudden without any prior warning whatsoever," She rolled her eyes, "And don't call me babe."

Whenever she refused to allow him pet names, he knew for a fact he was in trouble. This had been a thing even when they were friends. He'd call her "Apple" or "Apes" lovingly when they had merely been friends, but was forced into April whenever they'd gotten into a fight.

"Well, you know now. I just don't get what the big deal is, April. The money, the foundation, the conditions about our children, we'll talk about that and we'll work through that. We don't have to fight. You're overreacting." Her narrowed eyes and pursed lips stopped him from continuing further. Out of the frying pan into the fire, he thought.

She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it resolving not to.

"We have a patient to treat. I'm not wasting time with you arguing about something you clearly don't understand." She shrugged her shoulders, unlocking the door and getting out of the car. He could've sworn he'd heard her mutter, 'and a million dollars to flush down the toilet' under her breath.

He realized there really was no point hashing this out with her, at this very moment, nor was it likely she was going to stop being mad at him anytime soon. This was yet again another situation of them not seeing things the same way.

He walked behind her, matching her strides, and found himself inside the Ohio Harper Avery Hospital. He walked to the nurse's desk in the lobby and informed the nurse on duty that they were here for a case from Seattle and was supposed to meet a Dr. Hershman. While she was calling for Dr. Hershman, Jackson looked at his wife, who was enthusiastically looking around the hospital.

"Have you been here before ?" He asked, tentatively, not really sure if she would answer him.

She looked up at him, and he could tell she was debating whether or not to let him in on this one, and finally spoke up, "I have, actually. One time. We usually go to our town's private practice. We knew the doctor's there. But once, my, um… well, friend, got really drunk and fell through the window of a pub. I came here to see him."

"Who the hell gets that drunk ?" He asks, a little surprised at the crowd she seemed to have hung out with in her teenage years.

"Well… it was his birthday." She shrugged.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't sound like he was the brightest tool in the shed." Jackson remarked, and was a little surprised to find his so far extremely grumpy wife giggle at his not so funny comment. However, before he could ask her what was so funny, he was interrupted by someone calling his name.

"Dr. Avery! What an absolute pleasure to meet you." A middle aged man, with a heavy set demur and round face, walked towards them, hands outstretched. "We are so honoured that you could come to assist in this surgery."

Jackson returned the handshake, although he slightly grimaced at the man's over enthusiasm. He had had plenty of years of Avery experience to recognise ass kissing.

"Happy to be here, Dr. Hershman."

"Oh and this must be your wife, ?" He smiled, and he could sense April's need to correct him. She usually would, but for some reason she was holding back today. He wasn't about to let this man make April feel as though the only title she would be recognised by within the medical community now that she was married to him, was ' '. His wife was first and foremost, an incredible trauma surgeon. She had been long before she'd married him and will be long after.

"Dr. Kepner, actually. She is . She is the leading trauma surgeon in this case. In this hospital, and even outside of it, when she is being a surgeon, she is . Anywhere else, she's April Kepner. Only when she wants to, I and a select number of people has chosen, gets to call her . I hope there won't be anymore misunderstandings, Dr. Hershman?" He said this with just the right amount of politeness and authority, that for a while Dr. Hershman stood in front of him a little speechless.

"Uh- yes, of course. I aplogise, Dr. Kepner. I- I should've… read the file we were sent, and not assume" He smiled at April, genuinely apologetic.

"It's alright, Dr. Hershman." She smiled back, and Jackson subtly rolled his eyes at how forgiving his wife was to anyone but him.

"Anyway, um, the patient's want to thank you for making the trip to Ohio. The doctor who took on their case is here today so you can meet him too. I think he was able to send you all the files, beforehand?" Dr. Hershman asked,

"Yes, he was. He sent me an email copy of everything. The cholesteatoma patient, who's ear was stopped working."

"Well, that's why we have you … two." He added, as an afterthought and Jackson was pleased to see April look at him and roll her eyes in 's direction. It was nice to know there was one person she disliked more than him right now.

"Well, I'll show you to your office. You can change into your scrubs, there's a mini fridge in there, please help yourself to anything and if you're feeling peckish there is a great chilli dog in the cafeteria. Call me when you're done." He waved them off, and walked out the door.

"The only chilli dogs you should ever have in Ohio are from the state fair. Everywhere else, it's extremely questionable. Trust me." She pointed out to him, plopping her carry on down on the couch.

"Good to know." He chuckles, opening the mini fridge. He spots a blackcurrant juice and takes out a can coke, handing the former to April, and popping open the soda for himself.

She took it from him, before giving him a disapproving look for the soda.

"What? I need the caffeine." He remarked, taking a long gulp, taunting her.

"You know what else give you caffeine, but is way healthier than chemical filled, sugary drinks?" She asks, reaching into her bag. She tosses him an apple, and he manages to catch it, rolling his eyes.

"Not the same." He says, placing it on the table, and continuing to sip from his drink.

She throws him a withering look and starts to undress. He finds her choice of underwear very endearing, considering how she's chosen to pair her pink polka dotted, yellow bra with a blue and white stripped panty. He would, of course, buy her sexy lingerie, except for the fact that this mismatched rainbow of colours is so … April and as a result, much more of a turn on.

She slips her scrub top over her head, as he throws his empty soda can into the trash, and walks up to her. He slips his arms around her waist and teases the skin at the edge of her underwear, while bringing his mouth to a spot below her right ear.

He grunts, as he feels a sharp pain on his left rib and feels April step away from him, looking at him in disapproval.

"Did you just elbow me?" He asks, incredulously, rubbing the spot her elbow had made contact with his body.

"Yes I did. What gave you the idea that I was okay with what you're doing ? I'm still mad at you remember." She remarked, pulling her pants on and tying the knot.

"We were just joking around right now. Did you really have to elbow me ?" He can feel the area only slightly stinging, but he knew most of it was dramatics.

"Oh stop being such a baby, I barely touched you. We were joking, because I don't want us to fight while we're on this case. Also, because of what you said to Dr. Hershman." She smiles at the end, very softly so as to not let him know how much she appreciates it.

"Okay, She-Hulk, it wasn't a soft graze. So let me get this straight," He says, as slips his own scrubs on, "You're mad at me but you're not mad at me ?"

"I am mad at you, but I'm choosing not to be actively mad at your during the case. I am still so … so angry at what happened in Boston and I am still really pissed off with you for keeping pretty much everything about you that I, as your wife, should have known about. But this patient deserves two doctors who are in a good head space. Now, call Dr. Harsherman." She ended her rant, handing him the phone.

He took the phone from her, deciding that this wasn't the time to argue with her. Also, they were having this argument since they left Boston. He would wait it out, let her calm down and then bring it up. It needed resolving, but now isn't the time.

showed up a couple of minutes later, and led them to the patients room, rambling on about the weather, and the foundation, annoying small talk Jackson never liked to participate in, but his wife was kind enough to entertain.

"Oh and I want you to first meet the family's physician. He's the one who recognized the symptoms early on. He'll be able to help you better with the case." Dr. Hershman explained, pointing them to a room, inside which Jackson could see a male patient lying on the bed, and another male occupant inside the room, standing next to the bed.

" , , I would like you to meet the physician who initially treated Scott Hunter-"

"Dr. Abbot!" April screamed from beside him, possibly momentarily forgetting where they were.

"You two know each other ?" asked, sporting the same confusion that was on Jackson's face, glancing between the two.

"April! My god, it's you. They told me I was meeting a doctor from Seattle, but honestly, I never in a million years thought it would be you." Dr. Harold Abott, stepped forward, holding April in an embrace she lovingly returned.

"I can't believe I didn't see your name on the files, . I was just so preoccupied with the patient. Anyway, it's so nice to see you. I haven't seen you since …" April let the sentence drift off, shifting her gaze to her feet.

Jackson, still confused as ever, saw a small grin spread across 's face.

"Well, young man, it's nice to officially meet you. I couldn't quite catch you on April's… wedding day, considering you were quite preoccupied with a certain declaration, which my wife thought was insanely romantic, by the way." Dr. Abbot holds his arm out, which Jackson shakes although he is slightly more than a little shocked by what he had just heard. Shocked, and embarrassed. 's one and only impression of him was as the man who stole April from the aisle during her wedding to another man. He was also a little surprised how he'd never seen the man before, but figured, was right. He had been slightly preoccupied that day.

"It's nice to meet you too. Just… if you don't mind me asking, how do you two know each other?" He inquired, looking to his wife, whose cheeks began to flush with colour.

"Well, I was … I was best friend's with 's daughter, Amy. Remember, I told you about how she was kind of my only friend during high school." She asked him, and Jackson nodded recollecting the memory. He'd been grateful to Amy.

She saw steal a glance at April, his eyebrows raised, and saw a subtle shake of head on his wife's part. Harold smiled, and broke the somewhat awkward tension that had set.

"Well, I think that's enough chitter chatter for now. We should go and check on the patient. You will be quite surprised to see that I'm not the only one you'll recognize from back in the day." Harold commented, mischievously smirking.

"Kyle!" April commented, hand over her mouth, "I can't believe … Kyle !"

"April! Wait, you're one of the doctors ?" The male companion asked, an equally surprised look across his boyishly charming features, "Well, I just feel a whole lot better."

"Kyle used to get lessons from my friend Ephram… um, Amy's husband," April clarified, explaining to Jackson, "He is, well, a musical prodigy. Do you still keep in touch with Ephram?"

"I do, actually. We both play for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and I help him lecture at Juilliard sometimes." Kyle commented, a proud grin across his face.

"Wow, Kyle! That is… wow. I'm so proud of both you." Jackson smiled at how wonderfully sincere his wife was. She was genuinely happy for people's successes in life. He nodded in agreement at Kyle's and this Ephram guy's work, but shot April a smile. She was too cute for words sometimes.

"Well, I wouldn't be too impressed with him just yet. I mean, I'm pretty sure he played my ear off… literally." The patient, Scott, bigger than Kyle, with sandy blonde hair and a wounded artist vibe, spoke up. The whole room erupted into laughter, considering how even in this predicament, it was nice to see Scott take it lightly.

"Well, Scott, we promise not to talk your other ear off," Dr. Abott teased, which made Scott grin in return, "Here are the two surgeons on your case. This is the wonderful and . They are both very very good at what they do so you can trust your ear will be back where it belongs in no time."

"I really appreciate the two of you coming down here." Kyle commented, running a hand across Scott's shoulders, "I just want to be informed if this less invasive process is really all its being hyped up to be."

Jackson smiled back, and explained the whole procedure as simple as he could, in the soothing tone he used with all of his patients who are particularly nervous about their procedures. He felt for Kyle a lot more personally, apart from the fact that his wife knew him, he knew that it must be scary to have your spouse go into a surgery. Him and April both answered all questions and doubts Kyle and Scott had about the surgery and spent a bit more time catching up on the two before deciding to leave them for the day. The three of them had a lot of preparation work to get to and he was yearning for some lunch, having had plane food and a coke the whole day.

"You know you two should have lunch with us before you leave. I know Rose will be thrilled to see you and I'm sure you're planning on visiting your parents before you leave." Harold said, escorting them to back to their office.

"Definitely, Dr. Abbot." April replied.

"Yes, well it's a bit unfortunate we couldn't get the whole flock for dinner, but I'll make sure to invite Andy and Nina. Delia is in college this year so she won't be at home, but I'm sure you'll be happy to see those two." Dr. Harold said, stepping into the elevator and holding it open for Jackson and April to get through.

"Oh what is she studying?" April enquired, as Jackson quietly observed the conversation. He wasn't too keen to insert himself into it and so decided to merely nod along and say a few words whenever either one of them acknowledge him to help identify a person or explain a joke he had no idea, even after the explanation, why either of them found it funny.

He knew it was April who ended up accusing him this morning of him not revealing things to her, but the more and more he listened in on their conversation, the more he realized there was of his wife he knew little about. He was truly shocked at the amount of new information he was learning. Sure, he'd known the basics, but this was a specific, word to word account of a trip down memory lane, that made Jackson both happy and a little unsure to hear about. He wanted to know her, but was upset that he didn't already. He wondered, if this was how she would've felt last week. Except, a million times more overwhelmed.

He let her decide what to eat for lunch, trusting her opinion of Ohio food better than his and then slightly frowning having realized she'd stocked his plate with a salad, protein bar and orange juice. He figured he'd have to take a chance with a chili dog later.

"I'm sure, as you remember, I always pick a medical student to help me at the practice." Harold said, to which April nodded in confirmation, "Well, I was hoping he'd be able to scrub in on the surgery. Just to observe, nothing else, of course."

April looked at Jackson and he already knew her answer. She loved teaching. She took Grey Sloan's reputation for a teaching hospital very seriously, and had always been the most willing to teach out of all their attendings. He knew this was a definite yes on her part. He, on the other, was never too keen on the teaching aspect of his job, but figured that since Harold was so important to April, and he seemed like a nice guy, there was no reason to say no. Plus, whoever would just be standing by and it would certainly win some much needed brownie points with his wife.

He nodded his head, turning to Harold, "No problem, , we'd be happy to oblige."

"Wonderful. I think, April, dear, you'd be quite thrilled to know who it is." Harold said, poking into his salad enthusiastically.

"This is a really small town isn't it?" Jackson joked, unsure how it was possible for so many people to know each other.

"You bet," April laughed, biting into her protein bar, "Who is it ?"

"HANNAH!"

The three of them, turned around at the source of all the noise.

"BRIGHT?"

Jackson watched his wife, almost trample over herself, as she got up from the seat and ran towards the burly looking man, with curly blonde hair who was standing near their table, arms wide open, grinning like an idiot. He watched 'Bright' pick her up, the way Jackson usually does, and twirl her around, hugging her to his body.

The moment, initially only slightly confusing by why April responded to the name Hannah, which a second later he remembered was his wife's middle name and then as to who exactly Bright was that made April this happy to see him. Now, the moment was uncomfortable as neither made a move to let go, as they stayed in place, with Bright's grip tightening on her body. He didn't want to make a scene, but he was one second away from it.

"Um, who is that Harold, if you don't mind me asking?" Jackson inquired, tearing his gaze away from the two.

"Oh, that's the medical student I was telling you about. Brighton Abbot. He's my son. Him and April used to…" , trailed off, glancing away almost as if he'd said too much.

"Used to what?" Jackson asked, looking back over his shoulder, a bit of relief spreading through him when he sees that they have broken off the hug. Although, the animated talking about and shit eating grin 'Bright' keeps on his face isn't really helping all that much.

"They used to be friends," Dr. Abott commented, looking towards the approaching duo. "I see you two have had quite the reunion," He teased, gaining a laugh from both the two, minus Jackson, who was still low key sulking.

"I can't believe she's here." He grinned, his gaze stuck on April, who returned him with a warm smile. Jackson had had enough at this point.

"Nice to meet you, Bright. I'm , Jackson… I'm April's husband." He smirked, shaking Bright's arm in a strong grip.

Bright, didn't miss a beat, "Cool, dude. I'm Bright, well you know that. I'm Han- sorry. I'm so used to calling her Hannah." He laughs, and April merely grins at him, earning another eye roll from Jackson, "Anyway, man, I'm April's ex-boyfriend."

"You're what, now?" Jackson asked, not having been prepared for that.

He looked down at a guilty looking April who was avoiding eye contact with him at all costs.

"Small town, son. Small town." replied, and Jackson couldn't help but agree.

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THANK YOU FOR READING!

Should I continue or nah? Let me know! :)


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